Annually, Manufacturing Appreciation Week promotes the contributions of Georgia’s manufacturers to communities, the state and the nation through educational activities and increased public awareness. Individual communities host events throughout the week for local manufacturers, such as appreciation luncheons or golf tournaments; the highlight festivity is the Governor’s Awards Luncheon. This year, the luncheon drew about 1,000 top business executives from across the state.

Manufacturers from all over Georgia attended to see Governor Roy E. Barnes present Manufacturer-of-the-Year awards in three categories—large (over 750 employees), medium (151 to 749 employees) and small (150 or fewer). Chambers of commerce and other business partners nominated almost 100 companies based on their high degree of corporate responsibility, positive economic impact on Georgia and overall workforce excellence.

Representatives from this year’s winning companies—CIBA Vision, Cessna Aircraft Company and Toccoa Metal Finishing—were on hand at the Georgia International Convention Center to receive the awards.

• CIBA Vision, winner of the large-company category and a subsidiary of the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis AG, is a global leader in vision care and contact lens production. With 12 manufacturing sites operating in 10 locations around the world, it has an international reputation for being on the cutting edge of eye-care technology. Its operations in Fulton and Gwinnett counties provide jobs for nearly 2,000. The company’s headquarters at John’s Creek include an educational campus and research/development lab, as well as production and warehouse/distribution facilities.

• The winner in the medium-size company category, Cessna Aircraft Company, a division of Textron Corporation, manufactures the most complete line of aircraft in the world—from Citation business jets to personal single-engine planes. The Columbus facility employs more than 400 people who help manufacture aircraft-detail parts and flight-control surface assemblies for various Cessna planes.

• Toccoa Metal Finishing, the small-company category winner, uses a variety of finishing processes to provide clients around the country with a wide range of metal finishes, including nickel, tin, copper, silver and gold. Its clients include companies such as Kodak, BMW, Lockheed and others. The company’s reputation won it the job of gold plating the 1996 Olympic Flame cauldrons and applying the finish to the Olympic medals.

Sponsors of the 2001 Manufacturing Appreciation Week include BellSouth, Georgia Power, KPMG Consulting, Pattillo Construction and Randstad.

	Sponsors of Manufacturing Appreciation Week 2001 include (from top left): Randstad, Patillo Construction, Georgia Power, BellSouth and KPMG Consulting.

PAST MAW WINNERS 2000 Cooper Lighting Americus Caterpillar Jefferson Sourdillon Ringgold 1999 Miller Brewing Company Albany 1998 Union Camp Savannah 1997 Russell Corporation Douglasville 1996 Milliken & Company LaGrange 1995 The Boeing Company Macon

Additional highlights of this year’s event included the release of two reports of special interest to manufacturers and economic developers. KPMG Consulting presented “e-Workforce Transformation in Today’s Market,” and Randstad North America presented “Insights Into Employee Satisfaction.” In addition, the Washington, D.C.-based National Skill Standards Board made an announcement about its decision to position Georgia as a model state for an important initiative. (See NSSB article) This year’s luncheon was the seventh annual governor’s award luncheon and only the second to be statewide. It included an exhibit area that provided attendees with networking opportunities. The K-12 design competition drew 863 entries this year. The event has grown from the seed planted by Gus Whalen, who was chairman of Warren Featherbone when he presented the idea to Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Ken Breeden, commissioner of the Department of Technical and Adult Education, in 1994. “Looking out at the hundreds of attendees at last year’s luncheon,” said Whalen, “viewing the videos about the winning companies and thinking about the fact that Georgians for Manufacturing has a global presence now, with its own Web page, was moving for me. We are so fortunate in Georgia that our economic development system welcomes and supports this sort of event, which is a strong symbol of how Georgia’s political leadership, state agencies, private sector, communities and economic developers work together to ensure the well-being of the businesses that are our future.”

Visit www.georgiamaw.org for more information about Manufacturing Appreciation Week and view videos about the winning companies.